Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

“Shovel Knight”’s creators wanted their franchise to have legs, and while most figured this would extend to t-shirts and hats, releasing free DLC for their flagship game years after its release is the sort of romantic wishful thinking one would think improbable enough to be impossible. I still prefer “Shovel Knight”’s campaign—it has better boss battles, for one thing—but that “Torment” feels like it could have been stretched into its own full release has me wanting more than the short skateboardish platformer we got here. It finishes strong as well, not a compliment I can pay most platformers.

7